Detective guilty of assaulting prostitute

Jury votes for acquittal on sexual battery charges

SAN DIEGO COURTS  A sheriff’s detective accused of groping a prostitute was convicted yesterday of felony assault and battery by an officer and misdemeanor counts of assault and false imprisonment.

The jury deliberated less than two days before finding Thomas John Sadler guilty. The five-woman, seven-man panel acquitted him of sexual battery and felony false imprisonment charges.

Neither Sadler nor his wife, who was seated in the audience, showed much emotion as the verdicts were read. After the jury was dismissed, Sadler, 49, was taken into custody.

San Diego Superior Court Judge Michael Smyth scheduled a hearing for April 14, when Sadler could be sentenced to up to three years in prison.

His lawyer, Mary Ellen Attridge, said she believed Sadler would probably be placed on probation and serve some jail time. She said she was pleased with the verdict, given that Sadler had originally faced five felony charges and was convicted of one.

She noted that the outcome of the case means Sadler wasn’t found to be a sex offender.

“He was not found guilty of anything sexually oriented in any way,” Attridge said. “And so I think that overall, it is an acceptable verdict, although I would have preferred that he be found not guilty of everything.”

None of the jurors spoke to reporters after the verdicts were read.

Sadler was arrested July 31, 2008, at his Santee home after a months-long investigation by the San Diego Police Department. He was released the next morning after posting $250,000 bail and tried to commit suicide hours later.

During the trial, Deputy District Attorney Jeffrey Dort argued that Sadler picked up a woman he knew was a prostitute on the morning of Feb. 6, 2008, at a bus stop on El Cajon Boulevard in North Park. He was on duty and driving a Sheriff’s Department car, an unmarked silver Ford Taurus.

Sadler drove the woman to a parking lot on Camino del Rio South underneath Interstate 805, where he told her he intended to search her for narcotics. He then proceeded to touch her breasts and vaginal area, according to testimony.

A struggle ensued when the woman tried to photograph the license plate of Sadler’s vehicle with her cell phone. Seeing witnesses in the parking lot, Sadler drove away, the prosecutor said.

The woman called 911.

Dort presented testimony from four other woman who claimed Sadler had fondled or assaulted them in separate incidents. Two of the women complained to authorities, but investigators were unable to substantiate their claims.

Sadler told the jury he made one of the biggest mistakes of his life when he picked up the woman with the intention of having sex. He testified that he changed his mind as he approached the parking lot in Mission Valley.

He testified that he did not force the woman into his car. Instead, she got in voluntarily. He said he searched her for drugs but did not grope or fondle her.

Before the jury began its deliberations, the judge dismissed two felony counts of illegally accessing a computer to defraud. Prosecutors had contended that Sadler searched a law enforcement database for information related to the incident so he could determine whether he — or the incident — was being investigated.

Attridge argued that Sadler was authorized to access the database and therefore was not guilty of the violation.

Sadler, who had worked for the Sheriff’s Department for 20 years, was placed on unpaid administrative leave pending the outcome of the case.

A sheriff’s spokeswoman said yesterday that now that the verdict is in, the department would “conclude its internal investigation.”